Books Are the Hip New Thing

Nicole nabs some pretty interesting survey-thingies, and since I'm a lit nerd, this one was impossible to resist. And because I sincerely love literature, I'm answering these questions sincerely.

1. One book that changed your life: Starting out with the toughest question. Geez. Excluding the obvious (Bible), I'll go with Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. It completely changed what I thought writing should be like. Runner-up would be James Joyce's Ulysses solely for the reason that I can talk about it and sound important.

2. One book that you've read more than once: There have only been two, I think, and I just mentioned one of them. The other is Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, which I read three times. Gets better every time. "The horror" still echoes with me. It's amazing.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: I think I'd go with Finnegans Wake, to double up on the Joyce references. I dig Nicole's idea of having something difficult to understand to keep you busy, and I think that this book would make me feel comfortable about going insane.

4. One book that made you laugh: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers, which I ended up not liking. It's got some laugh-out-loud moments, which are rare in books, but overall it gets unpleasantly self-indulgent. I got to a point where the story was meaningless to me because he made it so much about him.

5. One book that made you cry: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck is the only one I remember crying during. I was a freshman in high school, emotionally vulnerable, etc. But it's still a heart-rending book.

6. One book that you wish had been written: I don't know. I don't like this question. If I can think of a book that doesn't exist that I want to exist, I'd probably try to write. And then I'd give up. And that story would make for a terrible book.

7. One book that you wish had never been written: I have a fair amount of animosity toward The DaVinci Code, but I more wish it had never been read than never been written. That book is the readers' fault. I say Jane Eyre. What a waste of my time that book was.

8. One book you’re currently reading: If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino. And actually, it's a bunch of books. Hard to explain, and at this point it's not worth explaining.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Just one? Well, I just bought The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne, and I'm pretty excited for that. It has one of the best first sentences I ever read, but it's much too long and sprawling to quote here. But it's wonderful. I suggest you find it and read it.